Thursday, December 29, 2011

Last Post of the Year

With 2011 drawing to a close, I'm finishing with a painting from the Reserves Park series. This is Evening– Reserves Park 7,  16x20, oil on canvas and the fourth in the series painted this year. Perhaps earlier in the evening than others in this series, this on concentrates on long cast shadows and the warming effects of the setting sun. Warm greens, oranges and golds against the warming horizon line. Even the tree branches and trunks are picking up the warmer tones as the sun goes down.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Seasonal Adjustments 3

The third and probably last in this series of paintings from photos taken this Fall at Morgan's Canoe Livery, Ft. Ancient: Seasonal Adjustment 3, 16x20, oil on canvas. This is just a small portion, but in this scene you can get some sense of the number of canoes rented from this location during warmer weather.

Morgan's is located on the flood plain some 250 ft. below the bluffs that contain one of the best known prehistoric native american sites in the country. Ft. Ancient is a complex of high earthen embankments ringing what is thought to be a ceremonial space enclosing 100 acres. Constructed during the Hopewell period (1st Century BC-6th Century AD) the walls stretch some 3.5 miles.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

House Commission 6

This is a recently completed house commission of 4909 93rd Street, Lubbock, TX, 12 x 16, oil on canvas.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Figure from Life

Our painting group had Ellen, a good friend of ours from Gallery 42, in today as a figure model. This was the first time since college (a long time ago) that I painted from life. I've done a fair number of pencil drawings and sketches recently, but no paintings. This was today's effort: MAPs Figure 1, oil on canvas panel, 8x10. Hope we can talk the folks in the group to have more models in the future!

Friday, November 11, 2011

More Seasonal Adjustments

I couldn't pass up this stack of canoes at Morgan's Ft. Ancient Livery. The dappled sunlight from the thinning trees and masses of intense red, blue and yellow against the fading fall color. They must have more than 200 canoes stacked up for winter at this location, just one of the three the Morgans  (www.morganscanoe.com) operate.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Seasonal Adjustments

I feel winter coming on and the above title applies to this 11" x 14", oil on canvas. The colorful canoes are on the ground and some are as gray as the trees will be in January. The constant rains have kept the grass green and the river too high to be safe, lapping at gravel at the very top of the launch ramp. The parking lot is chained and everyone gone home, hopefully to a warm fireplace.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Yankee Road 5

Wishing for a warmer, sunny day, here is recently completed Yankee Road 5, 8" x 10", oil on canvas panel. Another view from Yankee Road north of Linn Road in Liberty Township.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Evening– Reserves Park 6

Evening– Reserves Park 6
16 x 20, oil on canvas, 10/2011

Painted at home, at painting group and at the Performance Lexus Celebrates the Arts event. The latest in the Reserves Park Series, the photo here doesn't do it justice at all. Once uploaded, the image has gone flat, with all the midtones brighter than the original. Oh well, guess you'll have to see it in person the next time I display my work!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Above Mt. Adams

I finally got back out with the Southwest Ohio Plein Air group again yesterday afternoon and evening. You couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather. We were painting in Mt. Adams in Cincinnati and I was looking at all the elevation it afforded. The fall color is just starting to come in the trees. I hope it will hang around long enough to allow some painting time. We had such a dry spell this summer, I don't know if it will...

This is a 9" x 12" oil on canvas panel of The Church of the Immaculata. One of the prominent landmarks of Mt. Adams.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Across From Paxton's

This little 8 x 10 painting has been hanging in Paxton's Restaurant in Loveland since the wet paint sale at the end of the Loveland Paintout in June. It didn't sell, so it's been on display with other paintings that suffered the same fate. I just picked it up from there this week and finally got a photo I could post.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

The One That Started It All

Looking through my inventory records and comparing them to my postings, I found that I've never shown this painting here. It's Beckett Ponds 1, a 24" x 36" oil on canvas painted in August of 2008. I guess I really can't say I haven't shown it, the header for this blog is a cropped portion of the painting.

I hope to have some new work to put up soon. I have the Hyde Park Art Show on Sunday and a painting demo event on Thursday at a local Lexus dealer. If the painting from there works out, it will be the next up.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Plein Air Loveland

It's been a hectic month so far in September, with Featured Artist at the Pendleton, Mason Arts festival and starting a part-time job. The hours for my job are landing on my regular paint group days, so that knocks out the work I usually get done there...

I went out with Barb Pask (http://wwwlovetopaint.blogspot.com/) to Lovland and we painted between the raindrops two weeks ago. This is a little cottage along the bike path that was built on the railroad right-away through the town. Appropriately enough, it's on Railroad Avenue.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Findlay Market

This is a 9 x 12 plein air painting I started while out with the SWOPA group in early August and didn't quite finish. I hoped to get back down to Findlay Market to complete it, but my schedule didn't allow. I completed it last week at Mason Area Painters.

The last remaining of the nine public market buildings in Cincinnati, this facility was originally built in 1852 and remodeled over the years. You can find more information about Findlay Market and Cincinnati's other market buildings at: http://www.findlaymarket.org/market-history/

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Yankee Road 4

If you're taking Yankee Road up to Middletown for the First Friday/Second Look Saturday, look for these trees on the edge of a farm field, on the left just past Lynn Road. Two old maples that might not last too much longer.

Friday, August 26, 2011

SWOPA at Hyde Park

This Thursday was the second time I've painted "en plein air" at Hyde Park Square in Cincinnati this summer. Less people in the square this time (not a Sunday Farmer's Market) and the weather was cooperating. See my previous post on June 12 for my rendition with some of the folks enjoying the Kilgore Fountain.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

SWOPA Thursday

This "View from Fernbank" (9x12, oil on canvas panel) is of the Northern Kentucky shore. Fernbank Riverside Park is in Saylor Park, Ohio and was the site of one of the "Great Steps." A series of dams as aids to navigation, started in the early 1900's and finished in 1929. Most all, including Fernbank, were destroyed by the great 1937 flood.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Gregory Creek 7– Study

This 8x10, oil on canvas panel started as a demo on blocking in darks, background trees and sky for a art lesson. I completed it Monday at the Mason Area Painters group. I'll probably work this up on a larger canvas in the future and with this painted on a lesser quality canvas panel, showing some "holidays" (unpainted canvas showing through), I consider it a study.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Trumpet Flowers 4

The next small painting in the Trumpet Flower Series, this 8x10 is oil on canvas to match Trumpet Flowers 3.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Milford Paint Out

I spent the day on Saturday at Ohio Plein Air Society's Milford, Ohio Paint Out. Painters from all over Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky come out for this event and there were about 25 artists. I didn't paint in town this  year. Instead, I went out to farmstead within the city limits and painted this c. 1820s house.

What really drew my attention was the large tree stump in the foreground of the painting. It was about 7-8 feet in diameter and 10-15 feet tall. This Maple must have been 100-125 feet tall, when standing. What looks like re-growth of the same tree, is really a different species growing from seed in a hollow of the stump.

I was lucky enough to find someone else that also liked this scene. A kind lady from Milford purchased this painting at the wet paint sale that concluded the day.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Plein Air Alms Park

Continuing SWOPA's tour of regional parks, this is a painting of "Pavilion– Alms Park", 9x12, oil on canvas panel.

Overlooking the Columbia-Tusculum neighborhood in eastern Cincinnati, this park sits on the hill's brow with views up and down the Ohio River and Lunken Airport. The pavilion is built from local limestone and is very appropriately Tuscan in flavor.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Trumpet Flowers 3

I'm going out to paint with the SWOPA group this afternoon at Alms Park in Cincinnati, but before I do that, I wanted to finish this 8x10, oil on canvas.

The Trumpet Flower Series is a group of paintings that are like close-ups from the Fence Row Series. I started painting these trumpet flowers just after doing some research for one of my stained glass windows. They are a native species to this region and can be found climbing over fence rows and up telephone poles out in the rural areas around here. The humming birds love them and they bloom for an extended period, from about mid-June till the end of August.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Going Backward– Beckett Ponds 28

Just off the easel and waiting for the heavy white paint to dry… Beckett Ponds 28, 42" x 54", oil on canvas. This one may be too big for me to frame, so I just painted the edges of the canvas. Don't know where it's going either, but it better be a big spot. We only have one wall in our house where I can hang it. Maybe it needs to go straight to the gallery?

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Plein Air with SWOPA

Out today in the swelter at Mt. Storm Park in Cincinnati. Not many of the SWOPA people made it today, much too hot. I found a shady place under some trees and painted the "Temple of Love".


That gazebo-pavilion is all that remains of Robert Bowler’s once grand 19th-century estate; it was designed in 1850 by Adolph Strauch, former supervisor of the Imperial Gardens in Vienna and designer of Spring Grove cemetery. In his magnificent home (razed in 1917) Bowler entertained the Prince of Wales, Charles Dickens and other 19th-century celebrities.

Jumping Ahead

This is Beckett Ponds 29, which if you're following this blog, is out of sequence. That's because Beckett Ponds 28 is taking some extra time. I've worked on 29 over the last three sessions at the Mason Area Painters and finished it this last Monday. It's a 8x10, oil on canvas panel and looks to be a bit more "bright" than the other small painting in this series.

I don't usually show my work in process, but here is Beckett Ponds 28, 42x54, oil on canvas. It's taking a bit longer to complete than I thought. I keep plugging away at several lily leaves per day. Once I get all the canvas covered I'll start balancing the color across the work. I hope about another week will do it!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Plein Air with SWOPA

Thursday afternoon and evening I was out painting with the Southwest Ohio Plein Air group at Devou Park in Covington, KY. I decided not to try to paint the famous view of downtown Cincinnati from the lookout there, because the humidity and smog was so bad. Everything looked like it was in a fog. Also, there was very little shade to paint from and with temps in the 90's I didn't want to fry.

I found a position under some trees just off the green for hole #2 of the golf course. This is the view of a knob with trees, with the green out of view below and to the right of the painting. Foreground left are the women's tees for hole #8, with the men's tee to the right of the cart path jog and out of the painting. The seventh green is below the silhouetted tree, with the ornamental grass between it and the cart path at top right.

I set the timing of this "View Across 2 and 8", 12" x 16", Oil on Canvas, at about 6:00P, about two hours into the session. The area was all almost in direct shadow, but secondary lighting came from the glowing haze in the air.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Beckett Ponds 27

This just finished 24" x 36" painting harkens back to the first of the Beckett Ponds Series... painting water surface reflections with just a few lily pads to anchor them to reality.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Beckett Ponds 26

A new 8 x 10 in the Beckett Ponds series, this one is a little looser.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Plein Air Last Week

Last week was very busy, painting outside and dodging rain showers. Participating in the Loveland Paint Out, with SWOPA on Thursday in Covington and at the Warren Co. Festival of the Arts on Saturday. Several deluges lead to hurried packing, wet equipment and incomplete paintings. I had to wipe a couple off and start again when the pitter wasn't pattering...

First successfully completed work (second attempt) was "Nisbet Park Ampitheater", painted in Loveland, from under the picnic shelter, on a day with predicted rain (so of course it didn't). Alternating clouds and sunlight make for some interesting decisions on highlights and shadows.
The Baker-Hunt Cultural Center in Covington, Kentucky is a wonderful series of old homes and purpose-built structures in the Licking River Historical Area. This hurried view of the garden was the second attempt that day, getting started after a brief shower put a end to the wiped off first. Again clouds and bright sun alternating...

I went back to Loveland on Friday and painted with a head start from this photo, taken on Tuesday. I mistakenly deleted the photo I took of the painting when downloading the camera. I left the finished work to hang in Paxton's Restaurant (with green umbrellas in the photo) after the wet paint sale on Sunday.

Saturday finished out the week in Lebanon, OH for the Warren County Festival of the Arts. Our Mason Area Painters group was asked to provide some painters to decorate the venue. Saturday was a beautiful day, mostly sunny with temps in the 80's, but 10:00A to 5:00P makes for a long day on your feet painting.

Friday, June 24, 2011

House Commission 6

This is the second of the commissioned paintings I was working on this month. It went through several revisions, mainly to the left side of the painting, to overcome plantings in need of pruning. I'm happy with the results and so was the client.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Water Play

Started on our ill-fated trip by SWOPA to Fountain Square in Cincinnati, I just finished this 8 x 10 yesterday. I got about half way through this oil working on the square, before we were chased off. I didn't think we would get back down there this season, so I worked the rest up from photos.

My wife thought I couldn't do a painting without green... well there is a little in there.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

House Commission 5

Yesterday I delivered the first of two house commissions I've been working on over the past few weeks. This one's of a section of an old housing block in the Walnut Hills/Eden Park area in Cincinnati. Most of these homes have been divided up into apartments or condos, so they are multi-family dwellings in a beautiful setting. Each has been painted in an individual color scheme and has unique architectural details.

I started this work in the spring with photos and prep-work. The weather interfered with painting it "en plein air" as the client wanted. I just finished up on the work early last week, painted partially on site. This painting is going to a soon to be married couple as a wedding gift from the brides parents. A painting of their first apartment. The bride was there for the drop off and was very happy with the painting.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Plein Air Hyde Park

The second day of the weekend plein air painting with the Cincinnati Art Club... in the Cincinnati suburb of Hyde Park. I found a spot on the square and concentrated on a portion of the Kilgore Fountain. There was a farmers' market setup surrounding the square, so lots of people and a constantly changing scene.

I kept the lighting as it was at about 11:00A, about an hour into the painting. With a locale like this I needed to include figures, so I picked from the constantly changing cast. Finished at about 1:30P. Unfortunately, no one came to our fresh paint sale.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Plein Air at Foggy Creek Farm

Well, I didn't win any of the six artist's choice awards at the Cincinnati Art Club's first Foggy Creek Farm Paintout. There must have been about 25 of us that showed up to paint this morning, in spite of the rain that was coming down as we left home.

The sky was brightening in the North at 8:30A, when I pulled into the farm yard and behind the barns to park. There had been so much rain last night, that Pax Lindell (the farms owner) and I heard trees crashing in the woods from the creek undercutting the bank. One large tree fell across their front drive, white board fence and into the paddock. Pax has got some woodcutting to do
tomorrow and we all had to leave via the rear drive.

At 1:30P we all displayed our paintings in the shade and voted for the best of the bunch. As I said, I didn't get voted into the top five, but Pax's wife Abby, decided she liked my painting and purchased it on the spot. I only had a chance to get this photo from the easel and forgot the sign the painting, so I'll have to get with the Lindells to complete the job.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Duveneck & Friends at CAB

I just found out... My painting "Beckett Ponds 23" has been selected to appear in the upcoming show Duveneck & Friends at the Cincinnati Art Galleries. One of sixty pieces that will hang with selected works from the Cincinnati Art Clubs collection by Frank Duveneck (1848-1919). Opening next Friday, June 10, 5-8P.


Duveneck, a noted American and Cincinnati figure and portrait painter, was a founding member  and president of the Cincinnati Art Club 1896-1898.


The show will be at the Cincinnati Art Galleries, 2253 East 6th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, June 10 thru July 8, 2011


The Whistling Boy by Frank Duveneck, 1872, oil on canvas, Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio

SWOPA on Fountain Square

I usually don't post works in progress, but this is as far as I got on Thursday night. I went with the  Southwest Ohio Plein Air group to Fountain Square in Cincinnati to paint from 4-8:00P. At 6:00 we were asked to leave. So we packed up and wnt to dinner. We will need to finish the paintings later.

I'm checking into permissions, permits, etc. to see if we can get back on the square in the future. If not, I've got a photo (thanks Margie for the loan of your camera) that I can work from...

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Butterfly Bluff 2

I finished this painting this week at MAPs, another one in the series from the photos I took in Winton Woods Park end of last summer. Less Queen Anne's Lace in this one and more of the hill side in the foreground. This one is not split by the roadway as the previous paintings have been either.

I'm still drawn to those blue-greens of the pines, we don't have them naturally occuring around here. This stand was probably planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps or Boy Scouts just after the park was established. Winton Woods wraps around Green Hills, one of the "Greenbelt" developments done by the government in the '30s.

I planted trees in the park several times in the '60s as service projects with my Scout troop. Don't think it was in this area, I remember us working on the North side of the lake.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Plein Air MAPs

Last Friday was the first time the MAPs group got out to paint "en plein air." Only three of us showed up but it was a glorious, sunburn producing, morning. Just on the front side of a weather High, the sky was so blue it didn't look natural. The humidity was rising and puffy cumulus clouds started filling the sky as the day progressed.

I chose the time of day when I started painting for the look of the sky in this one. I thought the clouds would complicate the background too much. These are some mature oak trees that stand along the front of the park property. They've already lost some of them, hope they can keep these for awhile.

Painted image and on easel.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Plein Air Eden Park

Here's the painting shown in the last post from Eden Park in Cincinnati, "Bridge at Twin Lakes". Located in one of the river overlook areas in Eden Park, these little ponds were built in what used to be a stone quarry.

Still busy this week preparing for the Wyoming Art Show on Sunday, May 15, 11:00A-5:00P. Last minute framing, identification tags and business cards. Come on out for the show that kicks off the outdoor season in the Cincinnati area. Over 150 artists from 7 states will be represented. See the show flyer below and click on it for a larger view:

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Painting with SWOPA

A busy day on Thursday this week. We were still getting ready for the Grand Opening and First Friday of the Mason Area Painters studio (#109) at the new Pendleton Art Center- Middletown and there are always last minute details. I took the afternoon-evening to paint with the Southwest Ohio Plein Air group in Eden Park in Cincinnati, that's where this picture was taken. Painted the bridge at Twin Lakes and took photos of some locations for possible future paintings. Next I dropped off a few paintings at the Cincinnati Art Club to see if I can become a Signature member and then went to dinner with the SWOPA group in Mt. Adams. Whew!